Previously known magazine holders for detachably holding a cartridge magazine in a grip part of a handgun usually feature an actuating element that can be operated from one or both sides and a locking mechanism that is acted upon by a spring element and makes it possible to fix the cartridge magazine within a magazine shaft or to release the cartridge magazine such that it can be exchanged. In known magazine holders, the spring elements merely serve for resetting the locking mechanism after the actuation. Separate holding elements are required for holding the cartridge magazine within the magazine shaft, wherein these holding elements usually require a complicated manufacture and assembly.
DE 29 05 770 C2 discloses a magazine holder for a pistol with a lever that can be pivoted about a transverse axis within the grip part. One lever arm is acted upon by a spring and features an extension in order to engage into a corresponding recess of the magazine. An actuating element that engages on the other lever arm makes it possible to pivot the lever against the force of the spring such that the extension on the lever arm is disengaged from the recess of the magazine in order to remove the magazine. The actuating element that can be operated from both sides of the pistol may consist of an adjusting bolt with conical adjusting surfaces that can be displaced transverse to the firing direction in the grip part against a spring force or of a web that is arranged in a recess transverse to the firing direction and can be pivoted forward with the aid of grip elements in order to unlock the magazine. Due to this design, the magazine holder can be actuated with the thumb of the firing hand by left-handed and right-handed persons. However, the magazine holder comprises a relatively large number of individual components that have complex shapes and cannot be easily manufactured.